Brewers and publicans: beer is good for you and doesn’t give you a belly

Kevin Mullan

Published:18:17Monday 02 November 2015

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A lobby group supported by brewers, publicans and some politicians says beer’s good for you and doesn’t give you a beer belly.

Britain’s Beer Alliance, which includes major brewers such as SAB Miller, Heineken and AB-In Bev, makes the claim as part of its £10m ‘There’s A Beer For That’ campaign, which hopes to reignite the United Kingdom’s love of pints.

The campaign is also supported by the British Beer and Pub Association and the Westminster All Party Parliamentary Group for Beer.

“People often talk about the health benefits associated with wine, red wine in particular, but some don’t realise that studies show that consumed in moderation, as part of a healthy balanced diet, beer is also associated with reduced risk of heart disease. We are aiming to dispel the myth that beer causes a ‘beer belly’ – there is no evidence to support this at all”

Steve Livens, a professional beer sommelier from the BBPA commented; “It’s so important to illustrate the natural process that goes into beer making and bust inaccurate myths.

“All beer is produced from four natural ingredients; hops, water, yeast and malted cereal, such as barley or wheat. The There’s A Beer For That website has all the information you need to learn more about beer, and if you are ever stuck with what beer to have with your meal, tweet the team using #BeerMatch and you will get an instant response.”

According to a ‘There’s A Beer for That’ study commissioned by the BBA, one in ten Brits (12 per cent) think half a pint of beer has more calories than a small glass of wine (175ml), when in fact beer (91 calories) contains fewer calories than wine (141 calories).

A quarter of Brits (25 per cent) also think a pint of beer has more sugar than their daily Frappuccino, with a quarter not knowing that there’s actually only 2.5g sugar in half a pint of beer, compared to 35g in a tall Frappuccino.

The study revealed that over a third of adults (39 per cent) in the UK thought drinking beer makes them fat, with 29 per cent somehow under the impression that a half a pint of beer has more calories than a burger.

Furthermore the study of 2,000 British adults, revealed that a quarter of Brits (25 per cent) believe that a pint of beer has more fat than a chocolate bar, but that’s not the case as your average bar of milk chocolate has 13.5g, whereas a pint of beer (4 per cent) has absolutely no fat in whatsoever.